Inside the Star

Vancouver police lost control before the puck dropped, riot report finds

Vancouver police should have been downtown in larger numbers hours before the Stanley Cup final began, but a review released Thursday found that wouldn’t have stopped thousands of angry drunk fans from rioting.

VANCOUVER—Vancouver police were overwhelmed and underprepared the night of the Stanley Cup final and lost control of the crowds before the game even began, a report has found.

But the independent review, released Thursday, also said that no number of officers would have been enough to stop the thousands of young, drunk fans from rioting.

Former VANOC chief John Furlong, one of the co-chairs of the review, said despite the police response that night, blame for the riot falls on “thugs and villains and people who cheered them on.” He added that police and other officials made heroic efforts to contain the riot.

“We believe then and we believe today that lynching is not the appropriate response to a riot,” wrote authors Furlong and the other co-chair, lawyer Douglas Keefe. “But we do assign blame. We blame the people who started the riot.”

The report, however, also paints a picture of police disorganization that allowed a delayed response. As angry Canuck fans flipped vehicles and set garbage cans on fire in the minutes after the game, Vancouver police were still switching their baseball hats for helmets and gas masks.

The report said it took officers up to 40 minutes to change into their full riot gear. By that time, the rioting was already underway, creating havoc and panic downtown.

It was evident early in the day on June 15 — hours before the game started — that the number of fans arriving downtown was unmanageable.

A staggering 500 people were entering the downtown core every 90 seconds, according to Translink, the public transportation operator in Metro Vancouver.

While earlier games in the series brought hundreds of people downtown, there were 40,000 for the fifth game, and by the sixth game — which was played in Boston — some 100,000 fans congregated in the city’s core.

On the night of the Stanley Cup final, the review says an estimated 155,000 people flocked downtown. They were all contained in a compressed space and arrived hours earlier than expected, making it difficult to manage the public-viewing venues that had been set up.

Security efforts were overwhelmed even before the start of the game.

Fans began arriving at noon, while the police briefing didn’t begin until 5 p.m., two and a half hours before the game ended.

“The fans arrived before most of the police,” Keefe said. “The opportunity to set the tone was lost.”

Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu has refused to say how many officers were working the night of the riot, but the report’s authors found that 446 officers were on duty that night and that a total of 928 had been deployed once other officers, including those from neighbouring areas, were brought in.

Compounding the problem of dealing with a large group of angry fans were logistical and communication snafus. Batteries were not charged on radio equipment and wires were not attached on communication gear. By the time police reached their stash of helmets, gas masks, batons and shields — in an area the review found was too far from where the officers were stationed — it took 40 minutes to get back to the scene.

Chu said Thursday that the number of officers at the scene was doubled in less than two hours.

“There was no plausible number of police that could have prevented what happened,” said Chu. “We know in hindsight some mistakes were made but none would have made a substantive difference that night.”

Police members polled for the report said they felt there was inadequate staffing and that the officers who were working that night had not been briefed properly.

Chu said from now on, members working at a major event will be briefed in a different manner.

“If I had infinite amounts of money, I would have deployed officers five hours before they were needed. The crowd arrived early, much earlier than we thought they would arrive,” said Chu.

Chu said the city and the police department will provide their assessment of the riot next week at the police board meeting.

The riot caused millions of dollars in damage and while hundreds of suspected rioters have been publicly identified on the Internet, the police have not yet laid any charges.

Some of the 53 recommendations made by the Vancouver Riot Review:

• The Vancouver Canucks and the NHL should embark on a program of activities using its considerable facilities and influence to encourage year-round responsible fan celebrations and sportsmanship.

• The Vancouver Police Department should ensure all members working during a major event are briefed on the operational plan, roles and responsibilities and contingency plans prior to the event. The briefing should identify the equipment required and the availability and location of additional protective equipment.

• The Vancouver police should use communication tools earlier to help inform and provide direction to the crowd.

• The Government of B.C. should step up public education programs warning of the dangers of alcohol abuse, binge drinking, underage drinking and public intoxication.

• The City of Vancouver should develop a formal risk-assessment process to determine the level of planning required for future events.

Petti Fong

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.